Roots & Wings: Indelible Grace

February 22, 2015February 20, 2015 / Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

Kevin Twit and Indelible Grace have helped, directly or indirectly, shape and deepen worship for hundreds and thousands of congregations. Indelibile Grace was at the forefront of the movement to renew old hymns by setting the rich lyrics to newer music. While, no doubt, this had been tried before, it was Indelible Grace music that seems to have been widely used. Others followed, also seeing thier songs used in congregational worship throughout the USA, and the Church at large has been blessed by it. at least that is my take on it.

What was, and is, significant about Indelible Grace music, whether the re-written hymns or the newly composed songs, is that they are substantive – they bring to bear deep theological themes and truths and apply them to the emotion, without being emotionally manipulative. They simply give vioce to deep gospel truth experienced.

This video tells the story of Indelible Grace. And the featured concert held at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville… I had the privilege to be there – sitting with my wife and several of our closest friends. Great night; great memories.

I Asked the Lord to Grow in Grace

August 10, 2012August 10, 2012 / Dennis Griffith / 4 Comments

This song comes from a beautiful poem by John Newton. It is a powerful reminder to me about God’s grace and how God works.

Like Newton in the opening lines of this poem, I often ask God to grow me in grace and faith and the fruits of his Spirit.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

And like Newton expresses in the third stanza, in my mind this is something noble and therefore should be experienced mystically, gently and painlessly:

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Spiritual growth is easy, right? It should be automatic. Like sleeping, or breathing. Certainly it should be no more difficult than eating, or learning to ride a bike or drive…

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5 Songs for Good Friday

April 6, 2012April 6, 2012 / Dennis Griffith / Leave a comment

With Easter coming Sunday, the MOST Holy day on the Christian calendar, it is easy to overlook or undervalue Good Friday. But to do so deprives us of great opportunity to glory in the Cross.

When I was a kid, I remember asking my mother one day: “Why do they call it Good Friday, if that’s the day they killed Jesus?” My mother, who is not a theologian, gave the best answer she could: “Well, I guess it because we know he rose again.”

My mother was right. No doubt the death of Jesus cannot be considered apart from the Resurrection that was to follow. All our blessings are wrapped up in these two inseparable events.

But there is even more to it than that. The death of Christ itself, not alone but as a distinct redemptive act, carries it’s own beauty when viewed from this side of the Cross. It was Jesus’ blood shed on the Cross that paid the debt for all my depravity, and set my sin into remission. It is by Jesus’ voluntary death that we most vividly view the love of God – that we most clearly see nearly all of God’s attributes, really.

So with this in mind, and in hope to redeem the day for our greatest good, here are 5 songs for Good Friday that focus us on the blessing of that GREAT first Good Friday: